Early Neutering in Cats

Shanao

So what's everyone's opinions on this? We have a 12week old foster kitten at the moment and our vet told us she can be neutered next week. I was a bit surprised since its so early but she told me about all the benefits etc and now I'm wondering if we should have her done before being rehomed. This is a vet that I greatly respect btw and it took us quite a while to find her after going though three other vets. She works with a lot of rescues and feral cats and has been neutering a lot of them young since she got in a four month old kitten who was pregnant.
Just wondering what people think of this?

New Home

If you are sure you can manage the kitten for another while and be sure she won't get pregnant while you wait for her to get older, then tell your vet you'd rather let some more time pass before getting her sorted. Otherwise, I'd trust her - if she's as good a vet as you're saying, I'd take her advice, she knows what's best for your cat.

The Sweeper

All cats and kittens in Vic have to be neutered before rehoming. Every one of my cats was desexed around 8-10 weeks.

In my experience, their recovery time is quicker because they're small - my females had a 1 inch incision on their belly (minimal shaving, no big bald patch on the side), and three to four stitches that stayed in for 10 days and were removed easily. No need for an elizabethan collar, and the kits stay quiet enough themselves for the first 24 hours after surgery due to the effects of the anaesthetic. After that, try to keep them from jumping all over everything until the stitches come out.

There is a minimal risk as there is with all surgery. If the vet suggests vaccination at the same time, defer until you return to have stitches out. Have the cat microchipped while under anaesthetic for neutering if not done already.

boomerang

I wonder Shanao do we have the same vet

My vet Andrea will neuter kittens at 12 weeks, she is German so simply removes the ovaries and not the womb. The surgery is fast (less than ten minutes) the incision is tiny, and the kittens bounce right back. Same with the males. The only thing is not to fast the kittens before surgery, and give them a small amount of wet food to eat as soon as they come around, as they will have low blood sugar levels. And obviously it's important to keep them warm until they are fully up and about.

Andrea began doing these early spay/neuters because our sanctuary wanted to neuter our kittens before rehoming. We found a lot of people wouldn't adhere to the rehoming agreement and were delaying neutering until it was too late, or not neutering at all, even when we pestered them! Andrea did a lot of research before she agreed to do the early spay/neuters. She has done countless young kittens for us over the last two years now and it has proven very safe.

Shanao

Fraid not, my vet is Irish, but its good to see that others are doing this as it seems a really good idea for rescues. I would prefer to hold onto her until she is neutered so this is perfect for us really to have her done early. She was vaccinated a few days ago, that's when we were reccommended to bring her back next week to be neutered as she wont neuter them straight away.

I imagine we will have her done, I dont want to have to pester people afterwards to get her done. And this is a kitten who was found in a box in a carpark with her brother who died of pneumonia so I definitely dont want to let her go until she's done to make sure she wont be bringing any more unwanted kittens into the world. Handy to find other people who've had it done.

Themadhouse

If they are offering, take it. We neuter all kittens at 13 weeks. They bounce back much quicker than an older cat, even a 6 month old kitten. Get them to do a midline and take the whole lot, ovaries and womb. I find my girls don't have to wear a lamp shade when it's midline and when they are that young.
The risk is the same for anaesthetic and it causes no issues with development even with the largest breeds. You will be delighted you did it.